Foods for thought: Eating as caring
It is paradoxical that Yuma County produces over 175 crops of among the healthiest foods on earth, yet has a population with very poor health statistics. The mystery thickens with the awareness that many of the most prevalent diseases – obesity, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension – are caused or aggravated by poor eating habits. Yuma’s health stats should be excellent, aligned with its agricultural abundance.
The path to improved health and well being in Yuma County is hidden in plain sight. Individuals, organizations, and regional government should unite to promote increased consumption of locally produced, minimally processed fruits, vegetables, legumes, tubers, nuts, seeds and spices. Excellence in plant-based deliciousness should be the Yuma brand. The promotion of homemade meals, vegetarian options on menus, cooking classes in community organizations, and government policies that encourage healthy eating could distinguish Yuma as a caring community.
Caring? On the individual level, obtaining and maintaining an ideal weight while supporting the ideal functioning of every organ of the body is self-care.
Caring? On the community level, with over 60% of Yuma’s population of Mexican origin and a widespread love of Mexican food, the development of a local plant-based cuisine inspired by scrumptious Southwest and Mexican flavors seems community affirming.
Caring? On the global level, eliminating or minimizing meat from one’s eating routine is an effective way to combat climate change, starvation, and ecologic calamities. Cattle emit voluminous methane, a greenhouse gas. It also causes deforestation as land is wastefully used to grow food for cows, not people.
Organized community-level support is needed to promote living better by eating well. After all, we are hard wired to seek salt, fat, and sugar; the food industry knows this and profits by re-configuring these elements into endless, enticing varieties. It has also learned to fend off food activist critique with deceptive labeling. Furthermore, prepared fast food seems inexpensive since most people don’t count the healthcare costs that stem from eating them. But only real food is real food; it is affordable on even humble budgets. We are blessed in Yuma by the agricultural produce at hand. Let’s love our community, our planet, and ourselves by putting locally produced, plant-based foods on our plates.
TIMOTHY WRIGHT, PH.D.
Yuma